Shinji Tanaka
Shinji Tanaka is a recurring character in the Yakuza game series; he appears as a major character in Yakuza 1 and its remake Yakuza Kiwami, and as a minor character in Yakuza 0. The character is also referenced in Yakuza 2 and its remake, Yakuza Kiwami 2. Shinji is introduced as a new member of the Tojo Clan-affiliated Dojima family, working directly with protagonist Kazuma Kiryu. In the decade-sized gap between Kiryu's arrest to his release, he becomes a lieutenant in the Nishikiyama family, albeit working as a mole for Shintaro Kazama. History Background :"The yakuza destroyed my family. My old man ran into cash flow trouble flipping real estate. The yakuza sharks smelled blood in the water and took everything... My mom was smart, she ran at first sight of trouble. Those assholes came and beat on my dad every day. Then, the old man would beat on me, because he could." —Shinji regarding his past. Shinji was born circa 1972. Yakuza 0, 2015-2017. Kiryu:"How old are you?"/'Shinji': "I'm 16." As the conversation takes place in 1988, it means Shinji was born in 1972. His father got involved with the yakuza after his real estate business failed, which targeted him. While Shinji's mother abruptly left the boy and his father to escape the yakuza wrath, Shinji's father was beaten up by the loan sharks every day. One day, Shinji hit his father back, causing the abuse to stop and his father began to drown his sorrows; his father's pathetic state made Shinji consider mercy killing him. Yakuza 0, 2015-2017. Shinji: "But that stopped once I hit him back. Now he sits around hugging a bottle. Makes me want to put him outta his misery." Incapable of witnessing his father, Shinji began living on the streets, stealing for his life. He then joined a biker gang, and decided to hunt down yakuza as a form of revenge. Events of Yakuza 0 In December 1988, a 16-years old Shinji lured a man resembling a yakuza member into an ambush, but the man dodged his attack. After a short fight, Shinji was defeated by the man. Following his defeat, Shinji revealed his domestic life and hatred for the yakuza to the man, who told the young boy to cease his actions against them due to the high level of danger. Sometime after his encounter with the man, Shinji was caught by members of the yakuza group he's been hunting and was beaten up for his actions; he was betrayed by his own biker gang. In an act of desperation, Shinji told he was under orders of the man who defeated him before, causing the yakuza to search for him. Upon the man's arrival into the yakuza office, he was recognized as Kazuma Kiryu, a wanted man by the powerful Dojima Family. Kiryu managed to defeat the yakuza who wanted to take his bounty and rescued Shinji. Kiryu scolded Shinji and implored him to improve his life style; a grateful Shinji then declared that he aspired to become like Kiryu. Post-''Yakuza 0'' After his meeting with Kiryu and the incident with the yakuza, Shinji listened to Kiryu's advice and cut off his ties with his former biker gang. At some point prior to 1995, Shinji decided to go in Kiryu's footsteps and joined the yakuza group Tojo Clan; he was placed in the first-tier subsidiary Dojima Family, and by 1995 worked directly under Kiryu, who by then became a lieutenant within the family, as a debt collector. Events of Yakuza and Yakuza Kiwami September 1995 While hanging out on his own, Shinji met Kiryu near Nakamichi Alley as the latter was frenetically searching for money to borrow. Ignorant of Kiryu's intentions, Shinji assumed his boss desired to spend time in an expansive soapland, and borrowed Kiryu 120 thousand yen. Shinji later met Kiryu again who borrowed from him 30 thousand more yen. A few months later on September 30, 1995, Shinji, having trouble with some local loan sharks of a company called Peace Finance, requested the help of Kiryu with collecting the debt off the loan sharks. Another family was meant to take care of the load sharks, but the escalation of the situation led the Dojima Family to step in. In Tenkaichi Alley, the two confronted the group's president Hirata, and Shinji looked from distance as Kiryu effortlessly defeated Hirata and his men. After collecting the money, Shinji expressed his excitement over Kiryu leading a yakuza family, although the elder yakuza told him to keep expectations down. With Kiryu heading to Serena, Shinji kept an eye on the area from cops before taking half of the money back to his client. The next day, Kiryu was arrested after being accused of killing Patriarch Sohei Dojima. Shinji was ordered to deliver an expulsion letter to the incarcerated Kiryu. He also revealed to Kiryu that his friend Yumi Sawamura has gone missing since Dojima's death. Between 1996 and 2005 Shinji joined the Nishikiyama Family on Shintaro Kazama's orders, eventually becoming a lieutenant to Akira Nishikiyama. Reunion with Kiryu In December 2005, Shinji was instructed by Kazama to meet Kiryu at Stardust, a club affiliated with the Kazama Family. He arrived at the end of a fight between Kiryu and Stardust's hosts and the Shimano Family, disarming an armed goon who was about to shoot Kiryu and warning the Shimanos to stay away from Stardust. Shinji and Kiryu then caught up with each other before the former informed about Nishikiyama's plans to usurp the Tojo Clan to himself. He also revealed to Kiryu about the theft of the Tojo Clan's ten billion yen, and the funeral of Chairman Masaru Sera tomorrow. When Kiryu expressed his need to meet up with Kazama, Shinji informed him that Kazama wouldn't be able to leave. Thus, Kiryu decided to infiltrate the funeral, which Shinji expected. After that, Shinji and Kiryu had a lighthearted banter about Kiryu's habit of getting into fights. Protecting Kazama Shinji gave Kiryu the blueprints of the Tojo Clan HQ so they could plan his infiltration into the funeral. Death Character Personality Physical appearance Gameplay Shinji appears as the sole opponent during the first phase of the Substory "A Shining Example" in Yakuza 0. He is armed with a pipe and possesses one moderate life bar. He attacks in slow and sluggish moves. Behind the scenes Trivia Gallery Appearances *''Yakuza 1/''Yakuza Kiwami **Chapter 1: Fate of a Kinslayer **Chapter 2: Ten Years Gone **Chapter 3: Funeral of Fists ** **[[Chapter 10: Shape of Love **Chapter 11: Honor and Humanity (corpse and mentioned) *''Yakuza 2/''Yakuza Kiwami 2 (mentioned) *''Yakuza 0'' References Category:Characters in Yakuza Category:Characters in Yakuza 0 Category:Characters in Yakuza Kiwami